Tomorrow's Air Force

Jeffrey J. Smith

Description

Adapting American air power in the 21st century

Looking ahead to future airpower requirements, this engaging and ground-breaking book on the history and future of American combat airpower argues that the USAF must adapt to the changes that confront it or risk decline into irrelevance. To provide decision makers with the necessary analytical tools, Jeffrey J. Smith uses organizational modeling to help explain historical change in the USAF and to anticipate change in the future. While the analysis and conclusions it offers may prove controversial, the book aims to help planners make better procurement decisions, institute appropriate long-term policy, and better organize, train, and equip the USAF for the future.

Preface
Introduction
Period One: 1907-1947
1. The Birth of Military Airpower
2. World War I and the Interwar Years
3. World War II
4. "Counting" the Changes in Period One
Period Two: 1947-1992
5. The Rise of Bomber Dominance: 1947-1965
6. Bomber Decline: 1965-1992
7. The Changing Leadership of Period Two
Period Three: 1992-2030
8. Fighter Pilot Dominance 1992-1994
9. From Bosnia to Allied Force: 1994-1999
10. September 11th, Afghanistan and Iraq: 2001-2011
11. Signs of Change: 1992-2010
12. Anticipating USAF Change
13. Framing the Survey Perspectives
14. Changing Leadership
15. Predicting the Future
16. Summary and Recommendations
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• HISTORY
• Histoire
• Military
• Military aircraft
• Aviation

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 01 novembre 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253010926
• Langue: English

Extrait

Col. Smith has a great grasp of what the forthcoming debate will require. The Congress must reduce the spending at the very time our enemies are overtaking our capabilities. The debate needs to be engaged now. This book comes on the scene at just the right time.
DENNY SMITH, FORMER US CONGRESSMAN AND AIR FORCE F-4 PILOT

Organizational responsiveness to rapidly changing external threats will require an adaptive structure and leadership committed to synergistic employment of all US and coalition forces. This book is out of the box thinking and is very timely given the recent and evolving Air Force roles and missions.
BRIGADIER GENERAL AL RACHEL, USAF (RET.)

With the Air Force bracing itself for a future of tight budgets, rapid technological change, and strategic uncertainty, its leaders at all levels must begin to ask themselves and each other some tough questions about the direction in which their service is headed. Those airmen willing to actively engage such discussions would do well to turn to Smith s book as the basic point of departure for debates concerning the intricate relationship between the Air Force s past, present, and future.
Strategic Studies Quarterly
TOMORROW S AIR FORCE
TRACING THE PAST, SHAPING THE FUTURE
JEFFREY J. SMITH
This book is a publication of
INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
iupress.indiana.edu
Telephone orders 800-842-6796
Fax orders 812-855-7931
2014 by Jeffrey J. Smith
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Cataloging information is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-0-253-01078-0 (cloth)
ISBN 978-0-253-01092-6 (ebook)
1 2 3 4 5 19 18 17 16 15 14
FOR MY DAD
No one has had a greater influence on me
As the Air Force is compelled in the near future to reduce its force structure under the pressure of budget reductions, there will be a strong tendency to preserve those forces which have dominated the mission spectrum in the past rather than those which might dominate in the future. To be explicit, there will be a natural tendency to preserve the fighter and bomber forces at the expense of the supporting forces this tension between institutional proclivities and perceptions of the future illustrates the importance of the latter to the evolution of air power theory

If the Air Force mission is effectively redefined so as to be rationalized with history and future trends, less chauvinistic in its claims and demands, and embracing rather than discriminating among its contributors and practitioners, then the Air Force leadership has a fair chance of creating a vibrant, committed military institution.
CARL BUILDER , The Icarus Syndrome
CONTENTS

Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
PERIOD ONE : 1907-1947

1 The Birth of Military Airpower
2 World War I and the Interwar Years
3 World War II
4 Counting the Changes in Period One
PERIOD TWO : 1947-1992

5 The Rise of Bomber Dominance: 1947-1965
6 Bomber Decline: 1965-1992
7 The Changing Leadership of Period Two
PERIOD THREE : 1992-2030

8 Fighter Pilot Dominance: 1992-1994
9 From Bosnia to Allied Force: 1994-1999

10 September 11, Afghanistan, and Iraq: 2001-2011
11 Signs of Change: 1992-2010
12 Anticipating USAF Change
13 Framing the Survey Perspectives
14 Changing Leadership
15 Predicting the Future
16 Summary and Recommendations

Notes
Bibliography
Index
PREFACE
This book is the result of a number of converging events in my life. The first came in 1986 when I was accepted into the United States Air Force as an officer candidate with a follow-on opportunity to attend pilot training. Prior to entering the USAF , I was trained as a junior high and high school mathematics teacher. However, with the responsibility of raising a growing family together with my desire to continue my education, the USAF appeared to be a great opportunity to meet both needs. When I entered the USAF , I really did not understand what service meant. At that time in my life, the USAF was simply a job that provided for my family and offered an intriguing opportunity to fly airplanes. Now, twenty-seven years later, I have a very different perspective of what that decision back in 1986 really meant and how that decision changed my entire life.
The second major event occurred in 1998, when I was diagnosed with a brain tumor and underwent two extensive brain surgeries. Having survived what I can only describe as the most challenging event I could have ever imagined, I made some personal decisions in the months following the ordeal. The first was that I would not waste a single day of my life. It was that decision that started a drive to learn more, take on more projects, and experience everything life could offer. For me, as an Air Force officer, that naturally meant I would take on every opportunity the Air Force could provide. Within that context, I was given the opportunity to attend the School of Advanced Airpower Studies ( SAAS ), as it was called then. My year as an SAAS student literally changed the way I looked at the world - changed the way I asked questions - changed the way I solved problems. In line with my desire to get everything out of every day, SAAS took my thinking to a new level. What I learned about myself and, importantly, what I learned about airpower at the strategic level provided me with an important insight for my service and for the future of the USAF .
The third major event was the opportunity to attend a doctoral program at Washington State University. Although it was a grueling challenge to complete the entire PhD program in three years (an Air Force requirement), what I learned about research, writing, and methodology cannot be understated. Scholarship at the doctoral level provided me an environment of inquiry that connected with something internal within my brain, something I did not even know existed. It propelled my thinking, logic, and desire to investigate the world around me to a new level.
Apart from these three major events, over my career I discovered several things about my service. The first was that as airmen, we have a long and distinguished history - a history of men and women and their flying machines that brought together their love for flight with their passion to serve in the defense of our great nation. This history is what helps to define us as airmen. This same history tells the story of how a fledgling group of aviators started what would become the world s most powerful and respected airpower service. I quickly discovered that the historical icons of the USAF were all visionaries who transformed their ideas into a world-class capability. No airmen in the USAF can read about these great leaders of our past and their influence without absorbing a level of shared pride and commitment - as airmen, we all share a common heritage.
Additionally, I have learned that our service is a resilient and forward-looking enterprise made up of men and women who take pride in doing the mission every day without complaint. Although every organization has its nay-sayers, I can say without reservation that the USAF is dominated by professional enlisted and officer personnel that take the core values of Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence in All We Do as hallmarks of who they are - not just what they do. Being an airman is about more than just a job - it is about an identity. I am aware of few professions that so infuse its members with such an internal sense of worth, dignity, and professionalism as does the service of which I have proudly been a part these many years. When I entered the USAF back in 1986, I was not an airman; today, the term defines who I am from the inside out.
I also learned over the years that service is not something reserved only for those that wear the blue Air Force uniform. In my case, as is the common case of so many, service is a family affair. Lisa, my spouse of thirty years, has endured seventeen different addresses, spent many nights alone while I deployed to various contingencies, and accepted the challenges associated with not being able to have her own career due to the inability to stay in one location long enough. My two sons, Zach and Caleb, also had to serve within my capacity as an airman. Both had to endure moving in and out of different schools every two to three years. Both had to leave friends, girlfriends, sport teams, and church youth groups. The social dynamic for my sons was challenging, and as I look back on my years of service, I see that it was and still remains indeed a family affair.
I share these personal insights in order to impress upon the reader the sheer weight of personal responsibility I felt in writing about my service s future. I did not take lightly the investigation of our history, nor did I gloss over the areas where I felt we missed the mark. As an organization, although we have a valued past, we also have made some mistakes; my goal in writing this is to help shape a future Air Force that has learned from some of those mistakes. Not everyone who reads this book will agree with my assessment. In fact, when I sent this work out to a number of active and retired Air Force officers asking for their input, I received some negative comments. One retired general officer